Wednesday, March 23, 2011

First Stitches

Friday morning Emily had another first and this one wasn’t much fun!

drumWe were having the best morning – playing around the house, pretending to try on all of her new summer clothes, dancing, and watching Mickey. Emily picked up her little toy drum and wanted me to get the drumsticks inside the drum. She started to carry the drum to me, but next I know she’s on the ground screaming. At first I tell her to get up, but then I saw all of the blood. Nope, she wasn’t fine this time.

I picked her up, ran to the kitchen and grabbed some paper towels. I wrapped the paper towels around her left, index finger and took a look at the damage. She cut the tip of her index finger pretty bad. I put a band-aide on her finger, put her in the car and we were off to the local Children’s hospital. I called Brad along the way to tell him what was going on. I told him not to worry about meeting us at the ER. It wasn’t life threating – just a cut on her finger (right?).

Emily was so good in the car. She cried some, but not as much as I expected. She knew not to touch her finger.  Once we arrived at the ER I checked in, changed her diaper, and we were called back.  Emily was scared and hurting, but so brave and tough. The first nurse we saw was so sweet. She took good care of Emily and got us back to a room quickly. We chilled in the room for a little bit and learned how to use their fancy, made for kids, TV system – Emily loved it! The doctor came in and we talked about what happened. He wanted x-rays just to make sure the cut didn’t get down to her bone. No worries, the cut didn’t get down that deep.

I talked with the doctor again and the only thing left was to stitch up her finger. The doctor recommended waiting for the Wound Care Tech to do the stitches. So, I called Brad to give him an update and I used the phrase “stitch it back on.” Apparently I didn’t do a good job explaining how bad the injury was the first time I called him and this was his cue to come to the hospital. Brad arrived a couple minutes before the Wound Care team got to our room. By now Emily was playing with all of the toys in our room and happy as could be. Once they started getting everything ready for the stitches, I decided it was time for me to leave the room. I couldn’t stand watching her cry while she got her stitches and Brad was there to take care of her.

Ten minutes later Emily had 10 little stitches in her finger – two holding the nail back on and eight on her finger tip. We left the ER with instructions to call a plastic surgeon and a big bandage on Emily’s fDSCN2275inger. On the car ride home she ate every snack I packed and smiled like nothing was wrong. However, she was fascinated with her bandage. You can see the sock over her hand in the picture to the right. We finally had to put a sock over the bandages so she would stop messing with them. The bandage covers her index and middle fingers on her left hand.

Friday evening all the grandparents came over to spoil her a little bit and she played and played and played like nothing ever happened. But that all changed when Brad brought the drum back out. We were trying to figure out how Emily got cut (still can’t figure it out). The second Emily saw that drum she froze. And then started bawling. She knew that drum hurt her and she didn’t want anything to do with it. The drum is now in the garage.

Today we saw the plastic surgeon. Everything looked just fine. She’s going to lose her nail and it will take about 3 months to grow back. We’ll keep it bandaged for another 1-2 weeks but then she’s good to go. I think I was more traumatized by the whole thing than she was. Kids are tough.

Lessons learned – if we ever have to take Emily to the ER for anything, we are going to the Children’s Hospital. Everyone I dealt with was amazing! They were so sweet and took such good care of our little girl. I know that this was a minor emergency compared to so many other things that come through that hospital everyday. But it was a big deal to us. They took such good care of all of us.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

18 Months!

Yep, Emily is 18 months old. She's quickly going from baby to little girl. It's so cute, so much fun, and so challenging.

She has started talking more and more. Some of it I understand and some of I haven't the slightest clue. Some of her words include:
Moe (more)
Baby (baby)
Baby (Pelly - her stuffed pelican)
Baby (her blanket)
Baby (Banjo - our dog)
Eaa (eat)
Peas (please)
Tant Tou (Thank You)
Cracker
Ice
Mimme (mickey - means she wants to watch Mickey Mouse)
Mama
Daddy
Nonie (Brad's mom)
Pawpaw (Brad's dad - his "name" is Peepaw)
Mimi (my mom - her name is "Gumi")
Shelsh (Shelly, Brad's sister)
Bike
Par (park)
Bed
Soe
Book
Daw (dog)
Bahh (bath)
Cheee (cheese)
Phay (play)
Waffle
Wawa (water)
Cookie
ou-side (outside)
bye-bye
....and more that I'm just not thinking of.

She can also be a big goof ball - as long as she very comfortable with whom ever is in room. She'll dance, run in circles, make silly faces, and just make you (and herself) laugh. It's a completly different story if she's not comfortable with someone in the room. - then she's so shy.  However, no matter how shy's she is she will always say bye-bye and blow kisses when someone leaves. So adorable.

She also has quite the temper. We've had a peek into what is coming with the "Terrible-Two's". These tantrums aren't going to be fun. Emily has thrown a couple all out-kicking-screaming-laying on the floor-crying fits. Ignoring little Emily, like most kiddos, has been the best way to get past them. Most of them are short and sweet, but those that's aren't...wow! Brad looked at me during one of them and said, "Make it stop!"

She LOVES being outside. She stands at the back door saying "ou-side." Anytime a door opens, she trying to get out there any play. The park is her favorite place. She like the playground, but would rather walk around, splash in puddles, and enjoy the outdoors.

I love our little redhead and I'm so excited to see what the next 18 months have in store for her and our family.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The Great Ice Storm of 2011

Yeah, I know it’s been a long time since I’ve updated this blog. I have no good excuse – I’ve just been lazy. However, we’ve been stuck inside for three days now (stupid ice storm) and I figured now would be a good time to update.
We got struck with ice, snow, sleet, rain, and some record low temperatures early Tuesday morning. Our backyard is white, our front yard is white, and our driveway is a thick sheet of ice. There are rolling blackouts happening. All of the schools in the area are closed. North Texas has shut down. Yep, just in time for the Supe… I mean, National Football League Championship Game. Being stuck inside with an (almost) 18 month old who loves to be outside – yeah, it’s tough. So what have we been doing?
OutsideWell, Emily begged and begged and begged to go outside, so we let her. She played outside in the white mix for a little while and was very happy. However, a few minutes later she took off her hat. Then, she demanded that Brad take off her jacket. Brad decided this was a good time to “teach her a lesson” about being cold. So, he took off her jacket. About fifteen seconds later she came running inside screaming cause she was so cold.
Lesson learned?
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PaintingI set up the kitchen table, put an oversized shirt on, and let Emily paint away. Emily picked out the colors: pink, purple, and blue. She was so happy and very focused on what she was doing. She painted two pictures and is very proud of them. She’ll pick one up and bring it to me with a big smile on her face. It’s so cute.  
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Taking Banjo for a WalkEmily loves to hold Banjo’s leash. She found it laying around yesterday and brought it to me. I figured why not, I put the leash on and let Emily take Banjo for a “walk” around the house. Banjo wasn’t too thrilled, but Emily loved it. She walked Banjo all around the house.
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Bike RidingEmily received a trike from her uncle for Christmas. We put it together and let Emily play with it around the living room. She loves riding it and pushing her stuffed animals around. She loves it so much that we have to hide the trike. If we didn’t all we would hear is, “Ride, ride, ride.”
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Play doughI found a very simple homemade play dough recipe and made a batch (with some help) for Emily. When I asked her what color she wanted, she answered, “purple”. So, purple play dough it was. Emily wasn’t sure about the play dough at first, but with the help of some Christmas cookie cutters, she had some fun.
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In case you are interested, here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
1 TBS cream of tartar
1 TBS oil
food coloring
Directions: Heat all ingredients in a saucepan, slow to medium heat. Stir continuously. Once dough is at the consistency you want, remove from heat. Cool before using.

Sitting on the CounterEmily loves the sit on the kitchen counter. That’s where she eats her breakfast every morning. Yes, I know it’s not the safest place, but oh well. The drying rack for all of her cups is right next to her spot on the counter. She loves to take apart her cups and put them back. It keeps her busy long enough for me to unload the dishwasher.
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SweepingThe little one loves the play with the broom and dustpan. Heck, if she wants to clean under her table, I’ll let her.
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That’s what we’ve been doing around here these past few days. I’ve loved being home with Emily. It’s been a very nice break and unexpected week at home. I wish I would have been a little more productive, but I’ve had a ton of fun playing with our little girl.
I’m going to try to update on a more regular basis. Smile

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